Death of a Friend
by Kyra Marye Date
Summary: I cried while I was writing it. Warning: Major tearjerker, especially if you love Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru. I'm not telling you anything more than that. I will revise this at some point.


Kyo stood at a marked grave. "Tohru's still smiling," he said. "She's gone through so much and still she smiles. She had you buried near her mother. She really misses you. I can tell. I know you're probably up there, laughing at me. I've been even more of a fool since you died. Tohru cries every night, I hear her from the roof." He tightened his grip on a white Lilly flower in his hand. "Everyone tells me it's my fault you died. Akito started it. They're all right." Kyo hid his face in his hair. "It's my fault you're dead."

* * *

The month before, Kyo and Yuki started yelling over something that was so stupid that even Tohru tried to break it up. She failed and the rivals got into a fistfight. Mid-way through the fight, Yuki fell into a heavy asthma attack. Kyo didn't seem the least bit worried. Shigure called Hatori, who arrived shortly afterwards. He said it was too bad for Hatori to deal with. The trio got Yuki to a hospital. 

Hatori told the hospital that they could only have one doctor and one nurse attend to him. When the doctor and nurse were off duty, Hatori and Tohru took over. Yuki's breathing became normal again, but his health slowly declined. The hospital released him.

Yuki returned to school, but was unable to participate in gym and had to get rides to school. There were days when his legs were so weak he had to be taken to the car in a wheelchair. Hatori and the doctor at the hospital told him not to raise his voice anymore.

Kyo didn't know what all had happened to him. To him, the rat was just getting weaker and easier to beat. At dinner one night, Kyo tried to start a fight with Yuki. Yuki fought back, of course. Tohru, once again, tried to stop the yelling, but Kyo was becoming physical. Shigure grabbed Kyo by the arms and held him back. Yuki remained sitting. The two continued to yell at one another. A few moments later, Yuki fell into another asthma attack and had to be returned to the hospital.

This was his last visit to the hospital. The asthma attack was so bad that he never regained normal breathing. Within twenty-four hours of being brought to the hospital, Yuki stopped breathing all together. Tohru cried for days. She asked Shigure to bury him in the same temple that her mother was buried in. Shigure did so, knowing that Yuki had meant a lot to her and vice versa.

Since Yuki had died over the weekend, Kyo hadn't heard of it. He only knew that the rat was in the hospital. He saw that Yuki hadn't gone to school when the week started. He saw how upset Tohru had become. Uo and Hana took Tohru out of class multiple times. Kyo still didn't understand what was going on. When he returned home, Shigure brought the three to the main house. Kyo had been asked to be seen by Akito.

Akito told him it was his fault that Yuki was dead. Kyo was surprised. _He's dead? When...? How...? Why wasn't I told?_ He felt it was his fault. He spent nights on the roof and walked by the temple everyday.

* * *

"I didn't mean to," he yelled. "I didn't mean to! If only I had been aware of your condition, I wouldn't have fought with you that day! If I hadn't been stupid enough to hold my pride up, you'd still be alive!" He fell to his knees crying. "It's all my fault you're dead! Akito was right! It's all my fault!" 

Tohru, who had heard someone yelling, came up behind him. "Kyo, it's not your fault." Kyo jumped up and wiped his face. "Yuki had complications in his lungs and bronchial tubes. He fought with you because he knew he was going to die from it. He told me before he died." Tears streamed down her face. In both of their minds, the remembered walking home, hand-in-hand with Yuki as well, from Tohru's grandfather's house. "He didn't want us to tell you about it. Shigure and I never told you. However, when Akito was told, there was nothing we could do about it. He started the fight so that he didn't have to deal with you knowing he was sick."

"It was still my fault," Kyo said. "I would rather him be living right now and not fighting than dead because I couldn't let go of my pride." He let his tears go again, glaring at the grave.

Tohru stood next to Kyo and took his hand. "Let's go home," she said, smiling through tears. "Yuki will want us to be happy while we're alive."

As they walked home, hand-in-hand, Tohru held out her other hand. From behind, you could see the spirit of Yuki holding Tohru's out-stretched hand.


End file.
